By Kathi Bletz
Plant love memories draw me back
to a rocky island in Muscongus Bay.
Sunlight slices through the morning fog
warming the winding trail.
Hiking across the island
we enter a meadow.
Above an expanse of pink flowers
monarchs flit and fly.
The air is redolent
with the stunningly sweet smell of milkweed.
I pause, and breathe deeply
Mesmerized by the scent.
The seed of an idea is planted,
Sparking a future adventure with my elementary students.
Delighted by the prospect,
they research, write letters, and sketch garden plans.
A butterfly garden emerges,
in the front of Bellaire Elementary School.
Soon, milkweed beckons the monarchs
Rekindling my memory
of being surrounded by the sweet fragrance of milkweed
on a summer’s day in Maine.
Kathi Bletz has recently retired from a career that began as a first grade teacher and ended as the English department chair for the Carlisle Area School District in Pennsylvania. Happily, she spends her days playing tennis, gardening, sewing, and traveling.